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Dexterity being swiped out by touchscreens

RESEARCHERS at Dublin City University have found that Irish children’s fine motor skills, such as writing, cutting with scissors and buttoning clothing, have fallen behind international norms.

The more prominent role played by technology in children’s lives — with blocks, Lego, board games and jigsaws being swapped for screen-based activities — could be having a detrimental effect on the development of traditional fine motor skills.

Researchers note that poor fine motor skills can lead to difficulties in academic achievement, as well as increased levels of anxiety and poor self-esteem.

They studied 253 children — 139 boys and 114 girls — aged between six and 12 from Dublin. Only the children from second class, typically seven to eight years old, met the expected levels of proficiency.

The authors concluded the children’s fine motor skill proficiency “was not progressing at the expected rate given by normative data”.